Not So Perfect
by Stahlfan125
Summary: It's not perfect, what they have. But they pretend. Oneshot BooneClaire. Hints of Shoone and CharlieClaire.


I don't know what's up with me, but I keepwaking up in the morning and getting ideas for random fics. I kinda like it, actually! I'm feeling very creative!

Anyway, this is just a short little thing that I thought would be cute, since people liked my other Boone/Claire fic. This is a teensy bit darker than that one, though.

I'm gonna update Just Another Castaway sometime today, I hope. Maybe aftera shower or something! Haha! Anyway, plese review and enjoy!

* * *

**Not Quite Perfect**

It's not perfect, what they have. It never was, but they like to pretend that it is. It's not that hard, actually. Outwardly, everything seems to be fine. They're both young, beautiful, loving, and sweet-tempered. They don't fight, like Kate and Sawyer, and they're not completely different, like Jack and Ana-Lucia. They're almost the same person, and that suits them just fine. Everyone else thinks that they _are _perfect. Only they know otherwise.

He plays with Aaron while she cooks supper, just like a 'real' home. She's a great cook. He loves her meals, but some days, he cooks to give her a rest. She loves that about him; his sweet, giving nature. She knows _why _he's so giving, too. Years of practice giving to someone else who he loved. He told her all about it.

They're getting married. Everyone thinks that it's sweet. They do it because they might as well. Because, despite how they got together, and despite how twisted and complicated they are, they really do love each other. They love each other more than anything alive. And _that's _the key. Alive.

* * *

"Claire Littleton?" 

"Yes," Claire says, smiling. She's meeting his mother. She's _alone _with his mother. He's warned her about this. She's ready.

"That's a beautiful name."

"Thank you," Claire says, smiling. He's out in the guest bedroom, putting Aaron to sleep.

"So you met my son on the island?" his mother asks, smiling at her.

"Yeah," Claire says, with a touch of sadness. "I did."

The door opens, and he walks in, looking around with that same amount of frightened adorableness that first drew her to him. Without someone to help, he was lost. He needed to help. It was a quality not found in most men.

"How was he?" she asks as he sits next to her, taking her hand.

"Good," he says with a smile. "What were you guys…?"

"We were talking about how you met," his mother says with a smile. "Why don't you tell me about it."

They look at each other, and both of them nod. They're ready. They'll tell her.

* * *

Claire met Charlie when he was helping her move the heavy suitcase. She was pregnant, helpless…the perfect candidate for a man who loved to help out, like Charlie did. She was a little wary, at first, but he actually talked to her, like a real person. 

Over time, they got closer and closer. When her baby was born, and Boone died, he was right there with her, helping her get through it. When she needed help with the baby, he was there, helping her. He was an amazing man, and she was falling in love with him more every day.

Then, she was walking through the woods with Kate, just talking about Sawyer and Charlie, when they stumbled across a body lying haphazardly on the jungle floor. A closer examination revealed that it was Boone, and that he wasn't dead. Kate ran off to get Jack, telling Claire to stay with him.

Claire and Boone had never really been friends on the island, but Claire could remember one time when he had sat and talked to her for hours, about the baby and about how he loved kids. Before he had left, to go off to God-knew-where with Locke, he had said that he would be there when the baby came, no matter what. When the time came, and he wasn't there, she wasn't really surprised. When she got back to camp and found out that he had been dying a horrible death while she had been birthing her baby, she had cried for a long time, because she felt absolutely terrible about doubting him.

But…there he was in front of her, lying on the ground and looking around as if he had no idea where or even _who _he was.

"Boone?" she had said tentatively, and he looked at her with those mysterious blue/green eyes of his.

"Claire?" he asked. She was thrilled that he remembered her name, and she knelt down beside him. He sat up. "What?" He asked. "I…where?"

"Shh, it's okay," she had said soothingly. Then he looked at her, and she was lost.

Over the next couple of weeks, they became good friends. He got back with Shannon. She was still with Charlie. But they stayed friends, and he helped her out with the baby when she wanted to go out for a walk with Charlie. A few times, he even braided her hair, which was completely adorable.

Then came The Attack. Jack and Charlie and Shannon and Sayid walked off into the woods, and only Jack came back out. He was bleeding, wounded, scared, and completely out of it. By this time, they had already found the tail-end survivors, and Ana-Lucia and Jack were getting pretty close, so she led the expedition into the forest to look for the others. According to Jack's reports, that thing in the woods was chasing them. He remembered screaming, and that was it.

The party returned with three bodies. Jack revealed that Shannon had been pregnant. Later that night, Boone was found lying in a heap by the water. Apparently, he had tried to kill himself, though Jack wouldn't release the details of _how_.

Claire walked into the tent the next day to see his wrists bandaged up and his cheeks and eyes red from crying. Claire figured that she probably looked the same, sans the bandaged wrists. He was lying down on he same bed he had died on before, covered by a blanket. When she saw him, lying there, she ran to his side and flung her arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder. Even though he was weak from blood loss and depressed, he still managed to comfort her as best he could.

Three weeks later, they kissed for the first time.

Two weeks after that, they were rescued.

They moved into Boone's old house, which had been cleaned out completely. He took all of his stuff out of storage, and then he and Claire went about making it better than it had ever been. They put little potted palm trees in nearly every room, and hung flowers off the ceiling. Their bedroom was completely done over like the island. The curtains were fake ferns that they bought from some garden store. The carpet was sand colored. Claire had painted a beautiful mural on the wall of the ocean and some palm trees during a pink sunset.

Best of all, they lived right near the beach. Sometimes, they would bring Aaron outside, and they would sleep on the sand, under the stars, like they used to. Mostly, however, they tried to live normally. As normal as it could be, under the circumstances.

Claire still felt like she loved Charlie. Boone still felt the same about Shannon. Neither of them would ever be able to give their whole hearts to each other, but they were trying their hardest. And, though there _were _complications, they were most definitely in love.

* * *

They got married. All the castaways were there. It was a beautiful, but simple, ceremony. That's all they wanted. Sabrina didn't object. She was just happy that Boone was over Shannon. Though she knew, deep down, that he really _wasn't _over her. But she could pretend too.

* * *

Their semi-perfect life was all that they could ask for. He loved her, and she loved him, and both of them loved Aaron. They each had pictures of their dead loved ones, and neither of them minded that they didn't have the whole heart of the other. 

And really, if they looked at it a bit closer, they would have realized that it was a little closer to perfect than it first seemed.

_End_


End file.
